The highly anticipated H2M mod for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered has been cancelled just before its scheduled release. The mod’s developers posted the news on social media platform X, saying that “our team members received a cease & desist order on behalf of Activision Publishing in relation to the H2M-Mod project. We are complying with this order and shutting down all operations immediately and permanently.”
H2M was an effort to modernize the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer mode that Activision didn’t update in the same way it did the single player campaign. The development team said that “if Activision won’t do what the fans want, the community will.” It was going to deliver updated graphics, characters, and maps. However, there were also plans for new additions including a bevy of maps, gun skins, and additional animations.
Activision’s response to this mod’s existence is a sharp contrast against how fellow Microsoft-owned developer Bethesda Game Studios reacted to a similar situation earlier this year. Fallout: London is an extensive mod for Fallout 4 that makes it feel like a completely different game, bringing much larger changes than the ones seen in H2M. While the Elder Scrolls developer hasn’t given Fallout: London its explicit approval, it has given its tacit approval by remaining silent, unlike Activision.
It’s disappointing to see Activision react in this way, as modding is a pillar of the PC gaming experience. Gamers were quick to respond by review bombing the game on Steam, leading to its “recent reviews” status to change to “overwhelmingly negative.” It’s a tactic the community relies on to communicate its displeasure to game developers and publishers.
Having this kind of negative vibe around the franchise is the last thing Xbox wants as it prepares to launch Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, so there might still be hope for the mod if there’s a big enough outcry about its shutdown.